The Gainsboro Room
by VanityWantsYou
Summary: An average boy going to a school for the rich and noble? Unacceptable in Sasuke's opinion. SasuNaru NaruSasu HidaIta
1. That Bastard Uchiha

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Something about an ass hole Uchiha and vengeful Uzumaki seems oh so right.**

"Your grades are definitely Kokusai material, Uzumaki-kun."

The older gentleman placed the papers he was looking at into a manila folder, smiling. His reading glasses reflected the light from the chandelier just above his large office desk, hiding his amused eyes. He hadn't seen such a gifted student his entire time in office as Prime Minister, and there was no way that he was going to let such talent slip away.

The student in front of him had a shocked expression on his face. He'd heard what the man had said, but it'd come as a huge surprise to him to hear that his grades were good enough for one of Japan's top notch schools... Only the wealthy went to Kokusai and he was just- he was just a middle-class citizen.

"R-Really?" he looked onto the desk at his transcript, his heart pounding.

"You can tell your mother that you will be an official Kokusai student starting on Tuesday," the Prime Minister chuckled and pulled a sheet of paper over from one of the many piles on his desk. Grabbing a pen, he signed his name at the bottom of the sheet, followed by the date and the word 'scholarship'. 

Kokusai... He was going to be a Kokusai student next week...

"Thank you so much!" the blond bowed down in his chair, clapping his hands together. "You don't know how much this will mean to my mom! She's been hoping and praying that I get into a prestigious school here in Japan... but I never imagined it would be Kokusai High School!"

Chuckling, the elderly man stood up and held his hand out.

"I know it will be tough transitioning between America and Japan, so there's no need to bow to me. A handshake will do. I wish you all the best, Uzumaki-kun."

The student reached out eagerly and shook the man's hand, also taking the paper that was handed to him. There were no words that could describe his happiness and excitement, and all he could think about was how his first day at school would be.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Hatake Kakashi had heard about the new scholarship student who would be attending his class, he'd immediately gossiped to all of his fellow teachers about it. He'd felt like a high school girl while doing so, but having a new student at the school that **wasn't** of royal lineage or part of a well-known company was unheard of. He wondered if maybe the boy had bribed the Prime Minister into giving him a spot at Kokusai, because never in the school's forty years of history had anyone been accepted who wasn't high class.

But the boy who'd walked through his door didn't look like the type to bribe, and he most definitely didn't look like the type who would fit into a school for the wealthy.

He came in, blond hair a mess and school uniform not even the slightest bit pressed. His tan skin was something that stuck out like a sore thumb in the classroom full of pale Japanese, the whisker marks on his cheeks also an odd find. His school bag was covered in pins and little stitched-on badges that read 'my dad's a proud member of the army', and he even had an army bandanna that was tied securely around his wrist. Though, what really stood out was his bright blue eyes that practically screamed he was a foreigner.

"Everyone, we have a new student joining us today. His name's Uzumaki Naruto and he came here all the way from the United States," the teacher stood up from his desk and walked to the front of the classroom. "Treat him kindly."

One of the girls in the back frowned, along with all of her diamond-littered friends.

"I've never heard of you," she said. "What company does your father own?"

Naruto blinked his eyes slowly before he opened his mouth to speak.

"My dad doesn't own a company... He's part of the army and is in Iraq right now," he watched everyone start whispering to each other, some students even laughing. "And my mom's a nurse..."

Kakashi stepped in.

"Ah, how interesting. Both are very respectable jobs," he smiled.

Naruto smiled back, but his cheerful nature seemed to be annoying some of the students. They didn't think he should've be so cheerful, especially with how he wasn't even the slightest bit wealthy. To them, he was an eyesore. Someone that didn't even deserve their attention.

"Why don't you take your seat, Uzumaki-kun? We're about to go over the French Revolution," the teacher said as he lifted up a board marker and began jotting down the title of the chapter they were on. He listened in on the quiet conversations that were going on in the room, not surprised to hear what the topic was. "Class, quiet down."

Naruto wasn't stupid. He knew that his classmates already didn't like him, if he could tell by their glares. What really bothered him, though, was that he had already been discarded, even before anyone got to know more about him. Just because he didn't have an abundance of cash didn't mean he wasn't worth getting to know.

Sitting in his seat, he opened his back pack and pulled out his textbook, turning to page 126. Images of the French Revolution made him think back on how much fun he'd had learning about it when he'd been around all of his friends back in Miami. School was much more fun then than it would ever be at Kokusai. He knew that already.

He'd thought that he would fit in, since he was at least handsome if anything else. He thought his charm and smarts would get him a couple of friends, but it seemed as if all anyone at the school cared about was money.

"Hey."

Naruto looked up at the girl that was sitting in front of him, seeing a folded note in her manicured hand. Reaching forward slowly, he took it, looking around at the teenagers around him. No one was paying him any attention, all too busy taking notes. Pulling his arm back, he opened up the piece of paper and read the contents inside. Squinting his eyes, he wondered why anyone would write with a pen with such bright blue ink.

_Hey new kid!_

_I see you're already getting the boot from most of the class, so I thought that I'd be your friend! I'm the girl in the third seat of your row. The one with long blonde hair and a white dress on._

Blinking slowly, he lifted his head from the letter and saw the back of said girl. She was also busy writing down notes. While scribbling his own, he stopped every once in a while to finish the rest of her message.

_My name's Yamanaka Ino! Let's have lunch together this Friday. See you then! By the way, you should be very proud of what your parents do!_

Crumpling the note up, he pushed it into his backpack and smiled to himself. At least he would have one person to talk to...

The rest of the class went by slowly, Kakashi finishing his lecture with a joke about guillotines that had a group of the boys in the front laughing until they went red in the face. Most of the girls laughed at them and chatted with each other, completely ignoring Naruto. The blond didn't mind, though. He'd rather be ignored than be talked about.

When the clock tower rung outside in the courtyard, Naruto sighed out of happiness. He was so happy that he wouldn't have to sit around with everyone anymore; that he could go to a different class and maybe meet some more people that were as nice as that Ino girl.

"Speaking of which," Naruto mumbled to himself. He looked up so he could maybe catch a glance of Ino's face, but instead got a glimpse of her retreating back as she left the room quickly. "I was hoping to talk to her before Friday..."

Standing up, he grabbed his bag and silently thanked whatever god existed that Kokusai ran similar to an American school. If not, he would've been stuck in the same classes with the same students for over eight hours. He'd rather die than deal with all of the same ignorant snobs all day.

"Enjoy the rest of your day, Uzumaki-kun," Kakashi-sensei waved his hand a bit in farewell. "Ignore what others say. You're wealthy when it comes to your intelligence, so don't think otherwise."

Naruto smiled.

"Thank you, Sensei. That means a lot."

Heading out of the classroom, he immediately noticed the hundreds of pairs of eyes on him. He didn't expect so much attention, even though he was the new kid. New kids at normal schools never got as much attention as him at the moment and he was starting to feel a little awkward and uncomfortable.

Whispers were coming from all directions, some of them reaching the foreigner's ears. Most of the talk was of false rumors that he was the son of some banished European king, or that he was a low-key mafia member that was hired to murder someone at the school. He wondered why they would come up with such stupid stories when they could just ask him themselves. Of course, they probably wouldn't believe him no matter what he told them.

"Sakura-sama!" a young freshman girl ran past him, bumping into him and sending his backpack crashing to the floor. His books spilled out, along with the digital camera he considered his 'lifeline'.

Eyes widening, he dropped to the ground and quickly shoved it back into his bag, heart hammering. He would rather die than lose his camera. Putting his books away too, he stood up and watched the young girl that had slammed into him talk with a pink-haired girl he didn't recognize. They both grinned to each other, then took off down the hallway, most of the hallway's crowd following them in a buzz.

"What the...?" Naruto frowned, wondering why everyone had suddenly took off.

"I know why they all went running," a sultry voice spoke from behind him, a warm wisp of air brushing against his ear.

"Gah!"

Naruto spun around, coming face to face with a taller than usual male that had long black hair pulled back into a ponytail. His smile was firm and business-like, not at all cheerful like his own. His dark eyes wouldn't budge, as if waiting for Naruto to either speak or piss himself out of fear. Naruto chose the former, not really wanting to ruin is only pair of uniform pants.

"H-Hello..."

The gentleman's cold smile grew slightly wider.

"Hello, Naruto-kun. Word has spread fast about you... A transfer student all the way from the United States, who has no royal background or even the slightest bit of wealth. You're the hot topic of the school, if you didn't already know."

Naruto swallowed thickly.

"U-Umm..."

"There's no need to feel nervous," the older teenager chuckled and leaned back, the air about him changing drastically. His scary aura disappeared and was replaced with a more welcoming one. "I'm not here to harm you. I just wanted to reach a welcoming hand out and say hello to the new student here at Kokusai. I hope your day is going well, aside from the rumors."

The transfer student didn't know what to make of the mysterious student. He didn't know which was the real side of him: the intimidating, frightful side or the charming, kind one. Maybe he was bipolar.

"It's not going as well as I'd hoped it would, but it's not horrible. At least one person was kind enough to talk to me," he grumbled.

"Would that person happen to be Yamanaka Ino?" the male asked, brows raised in an inquisitive manner.

Naruto blinked.

"Actually, yeah."

"Ah, Kokusai's Saint Mary strikes again," he smirked

"Kokusai's Saint Mary... that's an odd nickname," Naruto scrunched his nose, causing the unknown student to chuckle. "Um, but not to sound rude or anything... who exactly are you...?"

The man looked fairly amused.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi. I'm a college student at the neighboring Kokusai University for the Gifted. I'm taking classes here since the college building is under constru-"

"Itachi!" a voice rung out from the direction of where all of the students had ran to. "Itachi, your shit-head of a brother is causing trouble again! He beat up some kid in the bathroom!"

Naruto turned to see who was yelling, but squawked when Itachi roughly pushed him aside to book it down the hallway as if he were a fugitive. Scowling as he rubbed his sore side, he slung his bag over his shoulder and followed the college student. There was loud laughter coming from around the corner that he was approaching, followed by cheers and clapping.

Peeking around the wall, he saw a good bit of the school's freshmen and sophomore students crowded around the boy's bathroom. They had their expensive cell phones out to take pictures, some girls even going as far as recording videos straight to Youtube. Quietly approaching the large group, he stood on his tip toes and peered over dozens of heads.

Standing in the middle of the circle was Itachi, anger clearly written on his face. Right in front of him was a shorter boy who looked almost like his twin, except with a younger looking face, shorter hair, and a different uniform. The mini Itachi was just as angry as the normal-sized one, yelling profanity and kicking at something on the ground.

He couldn't get a good visual of what the boy was kicking, so he excused himself as he pushed through the cheering crowd. Then, as he approached the front, he saw a blood-covered teenager lying on the floor, looking as if he were about to pass out from blood loss. The fact that this was being cheered on made Naruto sick and he couldn't help but do something. He didn't give a shit if his next move would cause him his life or cause him to be the most unpopular person in school. If there was one thing his father had taught him growing up, it was to protect the weak.

"Otouto," Itachi scolded his sibling. "I'm sure whatever he did didn't need to be addressed like this."

His brother, Uchiha Sasuke, kicked at the injured boy on the floor once more.

"Does it matter what he did? Just because you're my older brother doesn't mean you can boss me around as if you were my **mother**," he snarled, accentuating the final word. It made Itachi cringe.

His anger was rolling off of him in waves now, but before he could speak another word or even hear a single word from Itachi, his breath was knocked right out of his chest and all he saw was white before he hit the floor.

His vision was slowly coming back as he heard gasps from the crowd around him. There was a distinct name that came from the surprised crowd, though, and it was Uzumaki Naruto.

When he could finally see again, he blinked his eyes quickly and looked up at who had attacked him.

Naruto stood there with a frown on his face. His cerulean eyes were narrowed out of loathing and his fists were clenched, as if he were ready to punch Sasuke in the face if the raven-haired boy dare to lift himself up. The fact that some good-for-nothing **gaijin(1)** had the nerve to stand up to him, let alone push him, pissed the younger Uchiha off like nothing else. No one could lay a finger on him without his permission. Absolutely no one.

Standing up, Sasuke breathed in deeply and smirked, ignoring the pain in his chest.

"I know who you are, you disgusting gaijin," he seethed. The crowd quietly laughed at his inappropriate term. "You're Uzumaki Naruto, the American transfer student. I heard that you're dirt poor and that you're only here because of your grade point average. Someone of your class isn't welcome here."

"Welcome or not, I wasn't going to let you get away with hurting someone like that. Just because you have fuckin' money doesn't mean you can pick on people," Naruto argued.

He noticed girls behind him giggling, but ignored them. He'd just wanted the school to see his kind and happy-go-lucky nature, not his rough one. But if that's the side he had to show to make a statement, then so be it. "I don't care who you are. Wealthiest guy on Earth or not, I don't give a shit."

Sasuke only smirked more.

"Work on your Japanese," he crooned.

Taken by surprise, Naruto stuttered.

"Wh-what?"

"I said 'work on your Japanese'," Sasuke stood up straight and dusted off his uniform, adjusting his tie. "You sound incredibly stupid with your horrible pronunciation and awkward wording. If you're going to be a student at an **excellent** school, then you need to know **excellent** Japanese. I suggest you go home and practice."

The anger that overwhelmed Naruto was tremendous and he was just about to punch the other male in the face before Itachi intervened and placed a hand on the blond's chest.

"Calm down, Naruto-kun," he spoke smoothly. "My brother is always like this. Ignore him."

"Naruto-kun?" Sasuke snorted, kicking the boy on the floor one last time. "Are you two best friends now? Why would you associate yourself with someone like him?"

Itachi remained calm and stoic.

"Who I associate myself with is none of your concern."

"Whatever. I'm going into the city with Kiba. I'll see you when I get home," Sasuke glared at Naruto before turning and walking away, the crowd quickly moving out of his way.

Naruto grinned to himself, proud that he'd been able to stand up to someone like that bastard. What he didn't know was that his little stunt had earned him a couple of fans. As he tried to get over to the injured boy, he was bombarded by teens.

"That was amazing, Uzumaki-kun!" a sophomore boy claimed.

"No one's ever been brave enough to stand up to Sasuke-san..." a soft-spoken girl chimed in. "You did what a lot of us always wanted to do..."

"Good job!" an obnoxious male slung his arm around Naruto's shoulders and smiled so wide it seemed his face would split in half. He looked around Itachi's age, with slicked-back silver hair, amethyst eyes, and perfectly white teeth. "I've been waiting for someone that shit head's age to stand up to him!"

"Excuse me...? -Wah!" Naruto was pulled into a painful noogie, his hair becoming more untidy than it had been originally.

"The name's Hidan," the high-energy man stated while releasing his grip on the new student. "I'm Itachi's best friend. It's nice to meet you!"

"N-Nice to meet you too..." Naruto squinted his eyes, making sure to not fall over.

Most of the crowd had dispersed since the class bell was going to ring. The few people that had spoken to Naruto in person helped the bloodied boy off the ground despite that fact. The male thanked Naruto for standing up for him with tears in his eyes, letting himself be helped downstairs to the nursing facility.

"It seems like you're going to be an even hotter topic now," Hidan laughed, slinging an arm over Itachi's shoulders too. "I can see it on the school website now. American commoner speaks foul words to Japan's richest!"

"What he did was wrong," Naruto frowned. "There's no way that **I** could be the bad guy in this."

Itachi chuckled.

"You're a very interesting person, Naruto-kun," he pulled away from both of the students. "But I have to get to class now. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day," he smiled. "But remember this, if you're ever in a tight bind of any sort, just say you're part of the Akatsuki. Alright?"

"A-ah, alright," Naruto responded hestitantly.

Itachi smiled.

"It's just some useful advice from your senior. Come, Hidan."

"Yessir!" Hidan grinned and patted Naruto on the back before following after Itachi like a loving dog, his hands tucked deep in his vest pockets.

Naruto mouthed the word 'akatsuki' silently, wondering what it meant.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"I'm home!" Naruto called out once he entered the decent-sized apartment. Kicking off his shoes, he dropped his school bag by the door and made his way down the entry hallway. He realized his mom was working overtime when he didn't get a reply other than the excited sound of his chocolate lab in his bedroom, waiting to be taken outside. "Coming, Kohi!" he grinned.

Hurrying into the living room and into the bedroom hall, he opened his door and greeted his pet with an affectionate rub to the neck and behind the ear. The seven-month old puppy had her tongue out, knowing not to jump up without permission. Naruto noticed a little note tucked into her collar, though.

Pulling it out, he read the chicken scratch out loud.

"Sweetheart, I came home on my lunch break and took Kohi out for a walk. She doesn't listen to me like she does you..." he laughed, "because she went running after the white cat that the people downstairs own. I gave her lunch too, so don't worry about it, my little Kokusai student! I'll be home around eight, with some... McDonald's?" Naruto scrunched his nose. "Come on, Mom. Cook for once."

Kohi stared at her owner, big hazel eyes curious. Her tail wagged on the floor behind her.

"Let's watch some TV, okay?" Naruto crumpled the piece of paper in his hand and threw it in the little trash can by the desk in his room. He shut the door and undid his tie, tossing it onto his computer chair. "You'll never believe what happened today, Kohi," he told the dog who had decided it would be a nice decision to sleep in the boy's dirty clothes pile.

Naruto laughed and pulled off his black vest and white dress shirt, throwing those both where he'd tossed his tie. Next were the pants, the snug article of clothing just being left on the floor.

"Where did I put my sleeping pants...? Oh!"

He reached under his bed and pulled out bright orange sleeping pants, quickly tugging them on. He plopped down on his queen-size bed and grabbed his remote. There wasn't much to do, since he didn't have homework and no new friends to talk to on the phone. At the moment, all of his friends in America were asleep due to the huge time difference, so he was left to just watch Japanese dramas and game shows.

Getting comfortable, he turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, rolling his eyes at a special on Whale Wars. Of course they'd be talking about that on Japanese television. Honestly, it was difficult adjusting between American and Japanese TV. Everything was so different, and not really in a good way.

"There's nothing on," he sighed. "They don't even have an animal channel for you, Kohi."

The dog ignored him, tail wagging while she napped.

Leaving it on one of the news channels, he dropped the controller on the floor and rolled over, deciding he'd just nap. Closing his eyes, he thought about all of the day's events and found himself snorting at the thought of Sasuke.

"_A student at Kokusai High School harassed and injured a sophomore student today in one of the school's rest rooms-"_

Naruto's eyes flew open when he heard the anchorman's opening statement, his body swiftly turning to the side so he could watch the broadcast.

"_Arukawa Shiroyuki was attacked by a new student named Uzumaki Naruto in the boy's lavatory this morning, says Uchiha Corporation's second heir, Uchiha Sasuke-"_

"Wh...Whaaaaat?.!.?.!" Naruto shouted, causing Kohi to stand at attention and bark. "That fuckin' ass hole blamed **me**?.! He—he even went so far as to put it on the news... Mother fucker!Who does he think he is?.!"

On the television, Sasuke was standing with the reporter in front of the school, a smug smirk on his pale face. The way he stood there, with his eyes transfixed on the camera, he looked as if he were staring straight into Naruto's blue eyes. In the blond's mind, at the moment, the youngest Uchiha was the devil's incarnate.

"_Since the school is owned by a close friend of mine, I convinced him to not press any charges on Uzumaki-san or to expel him. He just thought it would be a good idea to share what happened today so that Uzumaki-san won't be taken lightly in the future," he feigned a concerned voice._

Naruto's eyes narrowed and he felt an anger he'd never felt before.

"Uchiha Sasuke, for that, I'm going to make your life a living hell."

**(1) Gaijin is the Japanese slang term for "outsider" or "foreigner". It's an inappropriate term.**


	2. That Devious TenTen

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Thanks so much for the reviews, guys! Please let me know what you think!**

"Did you see the news last night?"

"Sasuke-kun has officially made the new kid his target. All over a small squabble too-"

"Oh, it was **no** squabble at all," another girl interrupted. "It got physical!"

"Really?.!"

"Yeah, I was there when it all happened!"

Naruto tried his hardest to ignore the chattering females on the other side of the hallway, but it was so difficult to when they were talking as loud as they were. It was if they were trying to announce something to an auditorium full of people without a microphone. If they were going to gossip, they could at least ask him in person about what'd happened, not just spread a bunch of bullshit.

Closing his locker, he slung his bag over his shoulder and made his way to lunch. Once again, he would be sitting alone. Only one more day until Friday, he told himself.

He noticed everyone staring at him once he started making his way down the main stairs, as if they were waiting for him. Narrowing his eyes a bit, he slowed down his steps and looked around, expecting to see Sasuke in the crowd of students. When he saw nothing, he continued down his path to the cafeteria, finally excited about one thing: the delicious, gourmet food.

Whispers followed him on his way to the huge glass doors, but he ignored them. He'd wanted everyone at the school to see him for who he was; a kind guy with a sense of humor and a charming attitude. But all anyone got to see was the brash, rough side of him that only came out when he was put into a situation that made the mindset of his father kick in.

"I can't believe Sasuke-kun lied about what happened yesterday..." a girl whispered to her friend just outside of the cafeteria.

"I know," the other female replied. "But he knows that almost the entire school would be on his side, since he's so popular... I really don't see what everyone likes about him."

"He used to be so different in grade school and middle school..."

Naruto perked up a bit at what he'd heard, a feral grin spreading across his tan face.

He'd come up with a brilliant idea.

"Oh ho, Uzumaki Naruto, you're so sexy sometimes," he cackled to himself.

xxxxxxxxxx

Sasuke smirked to himself as he entered the lounge that he'd had built specifically for him and his friends, the room empty except for a hunched over figure in the corner. He sat down on the black leather couch and turned on the surround-sound stereo, choosing to keep soft jazz on.

"Kiba, what exactly are you doing?" he asked, closing his eyes to focus on the music.

The male known as Kiba lifted himself up and stretched, his shaggy bangs obscuring his brown eyes. He looked over at his comfortable friend and snorted while he closed the mini fridge he'd stashed his soda in, a Coca-Cola in his grasp.

Inuzuka Kiba was even darker than Naruto, a tattoo of a red triangle under each eye. His cinnamon hair was messy and his school uniform was more untidy than Sasuke's, but he had a very handsome and charming air to him.

"You look smug. Proud of yourself for the stunt you pulled yesterday? Damn, I didn't expect you to do something like that... You must really hate the new kid," Kiba laughed loudly, sitting down next to his friend and opening his drink. He took a swig and sighed happily. "He tossed you a couple of harsh words, so what?"

Sasuke frowned, his eyes still closed.

"He did more than just 'toss me a couple of harsh words'. He clearly didn't know who I was or what I could do to him. He pushed me, insulted me, disrespected me... so what was I supposed to do? Leave him alone?"

Kiba raised a thick brow, licking his damp lips.

"Uh... yeah? That's what mature people do."

Sasuke opened his eyes, glaring heatedly at the teen.

"I **am** mature. He just needs to be put in his place."

"Right," Kiba rolled his eyes. "I think you're just doing this because you're on edge about the anniversary of your-"

The raven grabbed Kiba's collar roughly and glared daggers into his surprised eyes. His heart sped up out of anger, the veins in his neck pulsating as blood rushed through him too quickly. Not even his brother was allowed to talk about her, so why would Kiba have the right to?

"Shut up," he seethed. "Why would you bring her up? She has **nothing** to do with this! Do you understand me?.!"

Kiba flinched, struggling for air.

"M-Man, let me go... What the fuck is wrong with you...?.!"

Sasuke released him, breathing hard. What was happening to him? He'd noticed it lately... the anger...

"Fuck, Sasuke," Kiba growled. "You know I wasn't trying to make you mad. What happened to the old you? You were fine up until a week ago. Now you're fuckin' up anyone who even looks at you the wrong way... Text me when you cool off," he stood up and fixed his tie, leaving the lounge quickly without saying another word.

The youngest Uchiha pressed his left palm to his forehead, gritting his teeth.

"Okasan..."

xxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hello there," Naruto smiled as he sat down at a table with two girls he recognized as being his 'admirers' from the day before. "Do you mind if I join you for lunch?"

One girl in particular looked almost on the verge of passing out, her face turning completely red out of something akin to shock. Her mouth made an 'o' shape as she watched the student sit down right across from her with a toothy grin. Swallowing thickly, she smiled nervously and tried her hardest to speak.

"G-Go ahead, Naruto-kun," she invited him softly.

"What brings you here, huh?" another girl grinned, pointing at him with one of her chopsticks. "Don't you know we're too rich and noble for you?" she laughed, obviously mocking what she heard other girls saying.

"Ten-Ten," the mousy female whispered,"don't joke about that."

"I was only teasing," she explained, shrugging her shoulders, hazel eyes falling on Naruto. "But really, what brings the supposed 'bathroom attacker' here?"

Naruto frowned at the name, remembering all too well how much he wanted to punch Uchiha Sasuke in his smug little face for his stupid stunt on TV. He'd been terribly lucky that his mother hadn't seen the news program since she was at work, or else he would've had a lot more problems to deal with other than just one spoiled prick.

"I have a favor to ask of you," he answered her question, a devious look in his eyes.

"A favor, huh?" Ten-Ten munched on some daikon radish, sounding awfully curious. "What kind of favor?"

"From what I hear, it sounds like a lot of people here have gone to the same school as Sasuke for years," he started. "Would you happen to be one of those people?"

An expression fell across her face that made Naruto feel a bit uneasy. She'd already gotten it across that she wasn't a snob like most of the female population at Kokusai, but that didn't mean she would automatically go with whatever he had in plan.

"Yeah, Hinata and I have known him since grade school. Why?" she cut to the chase.

Naruto leaned forward.

"And what would you say your relationship with him is?" he pried.

Hinata bit her bottom lip, looking between the both of them.

"Ano... Naruto-kun, I think you're getting too personal-"

"I hate his guts," Ten-Ten smirked, answering without hesitation. "I'm just going to assume you need help getting some form of revenge, huh? Well, if it's revenge you want, I'll play along."

Naruto almost purred, like a satisfied cat.

Hinata gasped, looking at her friend with wide eyes.

"T-Ten-Ten! What would happen if Sasuke-kun found out about this? He could have you expelled... or worse..." she whimpered.

The brown-eyed girl scoffed at her friend's words, turning a loose strand of hair around her index finger. She looked Naruto straight in the eye and then turned to point in the direction of the two rotating doors that led out to the school's main courtyard. She crossed her legs underneath the table and crossed her arms to match.

"If it helps with your devious plan, Sasuke always has the first lunch shift at twelve. He only ever comes into the cafeteria through those doors to get into line B," she commented.

Naruto smirked darkly. He was honestly a kind-hearted person, just like his dad. But again, he was only half Minato, and the other half was Kushina. Unlike the soft-hearted soldier, Kushina was a woman that was born of fire and ice. She was cool and collected most of the time, but hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. The instant she was done wrong, she would turn into a fire-breathing, soul-devouring demon.

Being a product of the two, Naruto wanted sweet revenge, but he knew his limits.

"You know, I think you're the first person to ever go against **the** Uchiha Sasuke. You've got guts," Ten-Ten mused.

"What can I say? I'm my parents' son," he smiled proudly.

Ten-Ten curled her lips and held out a slender hand.

"Well, we'll see how your plan goes, bathroom attacker-san. Until something horrible happens, you have yourself an accomplice."

Naruto took her hand and shook it firmly, sealing the deal.

"I'm excited to do business with you."

Hinata fidgeted in her seat.

xxxxxxxxxxx

..**NEXT DAY AT 12 PM..**

"What is that...?" one boy asked from his lunch table, squinting his eyes. "Do you see that?"

His friends all turned in the direction he was looking, all of them spotting the one thing that seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. They snorted on laughter and went back to eating, assuming that whatever it was belonged to the school's art club.

From the other side of the cafeteria, Ten-Ten and Naruto watched the courtyard doors with a sparkle in their eyes. Their fists were clenched in anticipation as they waited for twelve to arrive. For them, it was a momentous moment that would forever go down in history as the Kokusai Revolution- name courtesy of history buff, Ten-Ten. They'd even skipped class to watch it all go down; to watch the Uchiha's first fall from grace; literally.

The school's clock tower thrummed loudly, announcing that it was noon and time for the first lunch to be served. Flocks of students stood from their tables to gather and get in their favored line, not even passing a second glance at the odd decoration above the courtyard doors- a paper mache rendition of a duck, in honor of Sasuke's unique hairstyle.

"Oh, look! Look!" Ten-Ten couldn't help but tug on Naruto's uniform sleeve, her hand shooting up to her mouth to cover it in anticipation.

The door was pushed open and as many people turned so they could greet Sasuke, the paper mache duck cracked open and a dark brown liquid spilled out all over the floor, hitting Sasuke and Kiba at the same time. The raven slipped, but was caught by the darker-skinned teenager, his eyes wide in surprise and shock.

The whole cafeteria went silent.

"Pft...!" Naruto slapped his own hand over his mouth so he wouldn't get caught. Sneaking a hand into his bag, he pulled out his digital camera and zoomed in on Sasuke's expression, taking a picture with no flash.

"S-Sasuke-kun!" one girl cried.

"Are you alright, Sasuke-kun?.! You're not hurt, are you?.!" another wailed.

"Come on," Ten-Ten whispered and grabbed the blond's wrist, stepping to the side and slipping out of the double doors behind a group of utterly shocked Sasuke fangirls. Once they were away from the scene of the crime, she broke down laughting hysterically, tears springing to her eyes and her arms flailing around as if she were drowning. "O-oh man! Ahahaha!"

"Did you see his face?.!" Naruto cracked up, snorting.

"Oh," she wiped at her eyes, "a-ahaha... Such a mediocre prank, but it was priceless."

They smiled at each other, both sharing a toothy grin. They held up their hands and gave a thumbs up, a celebration of their first prank for the Kokusai Revolution and a promise of the second that was sure to come.

"I have another prank in mind," Ten-Ten implied, looking around at the empty halls. She leaned in and whispered in Naruto's ear. "Meet me in the gym hall at the beginning of fourth period. You'll see what I have planned then, okay?"

Naruto nodded. Frankly, he was utterly excited. He felt almost like a little kid again.

"Right-o," he saluted before heading to his classroom. "See you then!"

"Ciao!" Ten-Ten waved.

Swarms of fangirls still hovered around Sasuke and Kiba in the cafeteria, Naruto noticed as he walked by. He smirked.

"Oh, Sasuke, I can practically taste your anger. Might I say, it's quite delicious."

He just laughed.

xxxxxxxx

Saying that Sasuke was pissed was an understatement. He was beyond pissed; he was absolutely livid. What had happened to him and Kiba was definitely not an accident and the knowledge that someone had the audacity to go against him, the richest teenager in Japan, had him gritting his teeth and kicking the bottom of the marble shower wall.

Beside him, Kiba hid a lop-sided smirk as he cleaned the dirt and grime from his skin.

"It was just a prank," he said while getting gunk out of his hair. "Don't get so mad."

"No one has **ever** done anything like this to me," Sasuke ground out, obviously not taking the little prank well. His dark eyes were raging and his fingers were clenched at his sides. He'd finished washing off the remnants of what they'd realized was cold ramen broth, along with the sweat and dirt that came with an hour and a half of gym class.

"Well then, obviously you pissed someone off. Other than getting that Huroko kid expelled this morning, what did you do that could've made someone mad?" Kiba scrubbed at his dark skin until it turned red, trying his hardest to make the ramen smell go away.

Sasuke let the water fall down his slim frame, his eyes transfixed on his blurred reflection of the wall. He ignored the stares of the other students around him, only focused on figuring out who could've pulled the prank on him. Narrowing his obsidian orbs, he dug his blunt nails into the palms of his hands.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he hissed.

Kiba looked over at him, blinking brown eyes.

"Hm? I couldn't hear-"

"The last thing I did," Sasuke cut him off, "was the news report last evening."

The other male made an 'o' with his mouth, already knowing what was going to happen now that his friend had probably figured out who the culprit was. It was a shame too, because he rather liked the new kid; loud mouth and all.

"What're you going to do, then? Hopefully not murder him," Kiba snorted. "You look a bit insane right now."

Sasuke scowled, rinsing his hair one final time before making his way to the shower exit. Steam surrounded him like smoke and he inhaled deeply once he reached the tan lockers that covered the changing room's narrow hallway walls. There were oak benches that sat firmly in the center of the floor, littered with students' clothing and school books. He stopped in front of the bench that had Kiba's brand-name jacket and his school uniform.

"Where..." he began, rustling through the stuff on the bench. He didn't even bat an eyelash at dumping other students' belongings onto the damp floor as he searched for his own.

His left eye twitched and his pink lips pulled back into an irritated snarl.

"Someone took my clothing," he growled, snapping his head to the side to send a glare at the boys coming in from the shower. They all gulped and stood frozen, with the exception of a whistling Kiba who had a pristine white towel wrapped around his waist.

"Eh?" he questioned, glancing at Sasuke underneath wet bangs. "What's wrong?"

"I'm going to make sure that gaijin knows exactly who he's dealing with," the raven snarled. "I'd let him off easy when I did that news report, but this time I won't hold back. Stealing my school uniform... unacceptable."

Kiba grinned.

"I think it's funny," he claimed.

Sasuke only snorted and stood up straight.

"I don't care what you think, Inuzuka."

The brunette frowned.

Rummaging through folded uniforms on the bench beside his, Sasuke found a uniform as close to his size as possible and began putting it on, earning a 'hey' from the crowd of males. His dark eyes fell on a thin boy his age and he smirked, buttoning up the slightly tight-fitting dress shirt until it reaced his collar bone.

"Kogane, I'll return this to you as soon as I'm finished. Stay here until I get back."

The short boy nodded slowly.

"Y-Yes, Sasuke-san," he mumbled, too scared to go against anything the Uchiha said.

"Kiba, I'll come to your place when I'm finished."

Sasuke ran his fingers through his wet hair as he walked out of the changing room and into the gymnasium hallway. Students were passing through on their way to their next class and most female students stopped to wave to him, most trying their hardest to confess to him but he blew them off with a wave of the hand. He had more important matters to attend to, namely the demise of Kokusai's only dirt-blooded student, Uzumaki Naruto. He didn't know why he'd been accepted into the school if he wasn't wealthy, but he was definitely going to get rid of him before his school's reputation could be ruined.

Heading out into the cafeteria, he saw a group of his classmates standing together and chatting to one another about something he assumed was unimportant. Haruno Sakura, the school's queen of gossip was in the center of the gathering, stopping her mindless babbling as soon as she caught sight of Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun!" she chirped and let her friends to approach him. "We were just talking about that new report last night," she beamed. "You looked so good in that-"

"Have you seen Uzumaki Naruto?" Sasuke interrupted her, not caring about what she had to say.

Blinking emerald eyes, Sakura pointed in the direction of the doors that led to the courtyard.

"I saw him and Ten-Ten go out there...You know," she began, "for someone who's being targeted by you, he was laughing a whole lot."

Sasuke growled and clenched his fists, stalking past the pink-haired girl without a good-bye. He ignored her calling out to him and shoved through the very same doors that had been booby trapped earlier, 'caution: wet floor' signs all around where the ramen had spilled. The sunlight that hit him as soon as he exited made him cringe.

"How come no one's out here?"

"No one comes out into the courtyard after fourth period," a female voice answered, "It's off limits because this is when the maintenance crew waters everything."

Sasuke squinted, seeing two figures out by the water fountain in the center of the yard. He instantly recognized them as the male he was after and a girl he hadn't spoken to since middle school. He frowned, wondering why they were together.

"What do you say we dump his uniform in the fountain?" Naruto grinned, holding up a pile of clothing.

"Noooo," Ten-Ten laughed, "let's toss them in the lake beside the school."

The raven almost felt like going on a homicidal rampage. Never in his life had he been so angry with anyone and he almost fumbled with the idea of murdering Naruto, knowing that with his family's influence, he wouldn't even be put in jail.

"I would appreciate it if I could have my clothing back," he said and smoothly walked in their direction. Just because he was beyond pissed didn't mean that he had to show it. Why let the enemy know they had riled him up? He gave a cocky smirk at the surprised looks on the two teens' faces.

"Sasuke," Ten-Ten crossed her arms and stepped in front of Naruto, lifting her chin.

"It's been a while," the raven stopped a few feet away from them. "When was the last time we spoke? Ah, that's right. It was right before our company sued your father for all he was worth," he could almost grin as the color drained from the female's face. "Let me ask, do you still talk to him? I heard from a friend of mine that your mother divorced him right after the trial and married someone-"

"Shut up, Uchiha," her voice was menacing. "That's none of your business. And if you think for one second that you're getting your shit back, you're sorely mistaken."

"Hand it over or I'll have you expelled," the Uchiha gave a sly smile. "I'm sure your new father won't take too kindly to that. We all know he only keeps you around because his step-daughter going to such a well-known school helps his reputation."

Ten-Ten's eyes widened and her lips parted.

"You..."

"You fuckin' bastard!" Naruto yelled in English and threw Sasuke's clothing on the ground. He stormed forward and took Sasuke completely off guard, gabbing him by the shirt and slamming him onto the ground with enough force to knock the air from his lungs. "Don't say shit like that to my friend or I swear I'll beat the shit out of you," he hissed, eyes raging.

Sasuke stared at him, brows raised.

"You wouldn't do anything to me," he said in English, also, a twang to his words. "I could have your mother **and** you sent back to America where you came from," he smirked.

"Hey, dick, work on your English. It's **atrocious!**" Naruto shouted before punching Sasuke across the face. He didn't even hesitate before he lifted his arm for another swing, but he was pulled back by a frantic Ten-Ten.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing?.!" she shrieked. "The pranks were one thing, but punching him...? Do you know what could happen?.! He won't just expel you, he'll-"

"I don't give a shit!" Naruto answered in Japanese. "He can do whatever he wants to me! But I'm not going to stand around and let him threaten or hurt my friends! Do you hear me, Uchiha?.! HUH?.!" he practically spat in the pained man's face.

He wondered if he should mention the Akatsuki to him, since Itachi had told him to bring it up when confronted, but he brushed the thought aside. At the moment, all he wanted to do was beat the crap out of the male underneath him. He didn't want a word that meant truce. He wanted bloodshed.

Sasuke tried to get up, but he was just shoved back down by the blond's strong arms. The fact that Naruto was much stronger than him pissed him off even more. He winced at the pain in his face and he swore his cheek was swelling. With a grimace, he looked up into fierce blue eyes.

"You'll regret what you just did, Uzumaki," he ground out.

Naruto stood up and stepped back, grabbing Ten-Ten's wrist.

"Come on, let's go. Oh, and Sasuke? Your clothes are going in the lake," he glared and bent over to lift up the rumpled uniform pieces, holding them by his side as he and his friend walked away.

Ten-Ten turned around to see Sasuke sit up and press is fingers against a severely swollen cheek. She smiled and looked to her side, at Naruto's annoyed expression. Gripping tightly onto the hand she was holding, she swung their arms childishly and laughed.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you sure are an odd guy!" she beamed, trying not to cry. No one had ever stood up for her before, but there stood a man she'd known for one day defending her as if he'd known her his whole life... She couldn't help but let out a small sob as she lifted a hand to cover her trembling lips. "Stupid...!"

Naruto looked over at her and let a silly grin slip onto his face.

"But that's a good thing, right?"

They walked through the open gate that lead out into the giant student parking lot,their eyes falling on the small lake a few yards away. With a victorious shout, Naruto let go of Ten-Ten's hand and began a full dash to the water, his arm flying back as he threw Sasuke's uniform as far out as possible. They both watched as it hit the surface and slowly began to sank.

"I hope I broke something, you ignorant, stuck-up bastard!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, causing a few people in the parking lot to stare at him.

Ten-Ten just smiled.

"Idiot..."

**Not the best, but meh. Please review and let me know what you think!**


	3. That Delicate Ino

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto-ttebayo.**

**OMG, the reviews! Thank you! -dies- Please keep them coming!**

"Naruto, darling..."

A warm hand on his shoulder woke him from a light slumber, lightly shaking and pushing. The soft murmers of his name continued and he ignored them the first couples of time, but he scrunched his nose as the whispers became more persistent and harsh. Sleep still covered him in a faint blanket, but a rather rough shove made him jerk forward.

"What the hell-"

"Uzumaki Naruto, don't you dare talk to your mother that way!" Kushina stood up straight and smacked her son on the forehead, frowning. "I didn't raise you to be so disrespectful!"

Naruto sat up and rubbed at the reddening spot below his bangs, grimacing at the dull throb. He looked up at his upset mother with an apologetic expression.

"Mom, I'm sorry... I was half asleep."

"No excuses, young man. What would your father say?" Kushina sounded serious, but she put on a silly smile as she reached out and ruffled her boy's already messy hair. "Now come on, I made you some toast to eat on the way to school. And I already let Kohi out for you," she poked his cheek before heading out into the apartment's long hallway.

"It's weird to eat toast on the way to school. Kokusai students don't do that," he grinned and threw off his dark blue blanket, hoisting his legs over the edge of the full size mattress and wiggling his toes on the plush carpet. Turning his head, he saw Kohi staring at him from her spot on a dirty pile of clothes.

"Hurry up, Naruto!" Kushina called from the kitchen. "It's getting late! I want to see you off before I go to work!"

Naruto stood and stretched, looking around his room until he found the freshly washed uniform he had set out. Grabbing it, he yanked on his slim black pants first, over top his obnoxious orange boxers. Then he slipped on his short-sleeve white dress shirt and buttoned it up until it reached just below his collarbone. Kohi gave a rather loud bark and her turned to stick his tongue out at her.

"I know, I don't like it either," he snickered and put on his cream-colored vest next, pulling it down to just below his hips. He stared at himself in front of the cracked mirror of his dresser as he lifted his collar and began doing his tie.

Suddenly, his phone began going off, the tune to 'Come Back Again' by Infinite catching his attention. He finished his horrible tie job and stumbled over clothing and dvds to get to his plugged in phone. Flipping it open, he pressed it to his ear.

"The great and talented Naruto here, how may I be of service?" he answered cheekily while looking around for his socks and black loafers.

_"I'm still enrolled in school, amazingly enough."_

Naruto blinked, then scoffed.

"That's because that teme knows I'd open another can of whoop ass on him if he did aything to you."

On the other end, Ten-Ten snorted.

_"Yeah, okay," _she laughed. _"I doubt he's afraid of some brute force. He's the son of a multi-billionaire, I'm sure he has bodyguards."_

"If he did, why weren't they around to stop me from punching him in his smug little face? Huh?" he questioned as he yanked on his socks, hopping around on one foot with the phone between his ear and shoulder. He grabbed his shoes and bounced out into the living room where his mom was sitting on the couch and staring at herself in the small mirror of a compact.

_"Because only students and teachers are allowed on school property. I'm betting that his entourage parks right outside of the school gate. That's where everyone elses' guards park their limos."_

"..."

_"Naruto?"_

Naruto slipped on his shoes and comfortably held the cell phone to his ear, looking ahead in thought. He'd known that everyone at school was wealthy, but he'd never thought about them needing bodyguards. Exactly what type of things happened for anyone to need them? He thought of a movie scenerio, where a beautiful princess was saved by her handsome prince. He scowled.

"Sorry, Ten-Ten," he said slowly, still thinking. "Just wrapping my head around something. But I gotta go. Have to hurry up or I won't get to school on time."

_"I'll see you during lunch, then! Bye!" _she hung up first.

"Who was that?" Kushina asked as she put her compact in her purse and got up, slipping on his work shoes and adjusting her light pink scrubs. "Perhaps a girlfriend?" she gave a sly smiled and giggled.

The blond laughed and went into the kitchen, grabbing a piece of toast that was sticking out of the silver toaster. He took a large bite and cringed at how burnt it was, a reminder of how his mother lacked cooking skills.

"Ngh, no," he coughed and swallowed roughly. "She's just a friend I made at school. Her name's Ten-Ten."

"Oh, that's nice. But sweetheart, it's three past seven. We both need to get going," Kushina looked at her small, feminine watch. With hurried steps, she rushed to the front door and opened it, her eyes widening. "What...?"

"What's wrong, Mom?" Naruto took the oppurtunity to toss the burnt bread in the trash before he dashed over to the front door to peer outside with her.

Toilet paper hung in streams just outside the door, falling in loops and spirals along the outside light, the metal railings, and the worn down roof. Dollar bills and loose change were scattered on the floor, right next to spray painted words that said 'we feel sorry for you' and 'it must suck to be poor'. There were even worse words sprayed all over the walls outside of their apartment, on the walkway, and on the ceiling.

"Who would do such a thing...?" Kushina's voice shook and Naruto knew she was about to cry.

He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, stepping outside and tearing down the toilet paper roughly, balling it up and throwing it into a pile. His chest ached, not from the horrible words that stressed pity and hate, but from the look in his mother's eyes as she read every message that was written. She placed slender hands over her mouth.

"Go to work, Mom," he ordered firmly. "I'll stay home and clean this up."

"N-Naruto, honey-"

"I said go to work. This was probably done by some stupid kids from school. Don't worry about it, I'll clean everything up, okay?" he tossed his mother a strained smile. "I can ask Ten-Ten to get all of the work I missed and bring it over."

Kushina stared at her son, then down at more of the scribblings on the ground. 'Worthless Gaijin!', some read. She stepped out of the apartment and slowly began walking toward the stairs, looking back at her son with an upset expression. She'd been upset by the vandalism, but she was more upset with the fact that it had probably been done by students at Naruto's school. Was his lack of money really that big of a problem?

"Naruto," she called to him with a deep tone. "If you find out who did this, I give you permission to kick their asses!" she held up a fist and grinned. "Yosh!"

Despite the situation, the blond smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

"Yes, ma'am!"

Kushina smiled and turned back around, disappearing down the winding steps to the second floor. The sound of her footsteps slowly faded away into nothing and Naruto headed back into the apartment to grab cleaning supplies, sighing. He knew Sasuke wouldn't stoop low enough to go to his house and vandalize it himself, so he was sure he'd gotten some of his brainwashed fangirls to volunteer.

"Man, this is going to take a while," he groaned.

xxxxxxxxxx

Ten-Ten was to the point where she didn't care if her father disowned her for getting kicked out of school. Despite only knowing Naruto for a little under two days, she felt like they were good friends and she owed him something for standing up for her the day before. He'd punched Uchiha Sasuke in the face for saying the wrong thing to her and in retaliation, the dark-haired male had used his injury to get his insane fangirls to do his bidding.

"Vandalizing someone's home? That's low," she sunk in her seat as her teacher droned on.

She wanted to hunt Sasuke down and give him a piece of her mind, but right before first period had started she'd gotten a call from the gloomy blond who'd made her promise not to start anything. It was a promise she'd reluctantly made with him and it was eating away at her. How could she not do something?

The shrill sound of the school bell rang out and before anyone else could bother packing away their belongings, she was up and out of the door, a frown on her face. Turning the corner, she almost squealed when she ran into a tall, looming body. Stumbling back, she caught herself on a locker.

"Good morning, Xiao-san," Itachi smiled alluringly.

"D-Do I know you?" she asked, getting a good look at the upper classman. He had a look to him that she didn't like and she eyed him warily. "You look familiar..."

"My name's Uchiha Itachi and-"

"An Uchiha?.!" Ten-Ten shouted, scowling. "I'm sorry, but I don't mingle with anyone of that family, so if you'll excuse me," she moved forward and tried to go around him, but a firm hand to her shoulder stopped her. She shot chocolate eyes upward, meeting a warm smile.

"I'm sorry for my younger brother's behavior lately. He's been going through a difficult time."

"I don't care," Ten-Ten said bluntly. "Now, I'd like to get to my next class, so if you'll just move out of my way."

Itachi chuckled and leaned against the lockers.

"I actually have something to ask you, Xiao-san. I'm a friend of Naruto-kun's and I was wondering why he was absent from class this morning. I was trying to pass along a message to him from Yamanaka Ino."

"Hah?" Ten-Ten looked surprised. "Why would he associate with her? And I doubt you're his friend," she crossed her arms and tapped the toe of her loafer against the marble floor.

"Please listen to me," Itachi asked kindly. "I just want to know where Naruto-kun is."

Ten-Ten frowned.

"He's at home cleaning up his vandalized apartment," she spat. "Tell your shithead brother to get his stupid fangirls to back off of him. It wasn't just him, his mom had to see that too."

The much older Uchiha sibling gave her a thoughtful look.

"Vandalism?" he repeated. "He's gone too far," he sighed and bowed his head a bit in apology. "I'm not my brother, but I apologize for the trouble he's caused the both of you. If you could get a hold of him at some point today, please inform him that my sister will be paying him a visit this afternoon. Thank you," he smiled before pushing himself away from the lockers and starting a smooth pace down the hall.

Ten-Ten turned and watched him leave.

"... Eh?"

"Ten-Ten-san! How are you this youthful morning?" a taller male student came running down the hall from the direction Itachi was going, waving with much enthusiasm. His uniform was disheveled and his black hair was a mess, but that didn't seem to bother him.

Ten-Ten grumbled something under her breath before giving her own reluctant wave.

"Hi, Lee. You remember how I told you a hundred times to just call me Ten-Ten? Well, do it," she snorted. "I'm your cousin, not some random classmate."

The round-eyed boy nodded vigorously. She stared up at him and sighed.

"You're not listening to me, are you?"

He ignored her.

"Ten-Ten-san, did you hear about what happened to Naruto-san?.!" he asked loudly, drawing looks from other students nearby. When he noticed his relative's glare, he shushed himself down to a harsh whisper, mumbling an apology. "Sasuke-san told everyone that Naruto-san had punched him and some students were so upset that they vandalized his apartment. Horrible, isn't it? Gai-sensei told me never to spend your youth exacting revenge because-"

"Lee, I don't want to hear about your stupid taijutsu teacher. Right now, I'm concerned with calling Naruto up before class and telling him an Uchiha is supposedly dropping by his apartment later on," she hissed and walked off, heading toward where her locker was so she could grab her phone. "A visit like that can't mean anything good..."

She stopped in her tracks after she turned the corner, her eyes falling on her locker that had obviously been smashed into. The door was dented horribly and her small class laptop was broken on the hall floor, along with her shattered cell phone. The classwork she'd had in there was torn to bits and thrown everywhere. Eyes widening, she rushed forward and dropped her notebook on the floor, her hands flying out to grab onto the broken door.

Peering into the ruined locker, she stared down at her treasured photo; a picture of her and her real father on a trip to Italy, both of them smiling. But an 'x' was marked through it and in red lettering, the word 'slut' was scribbled across the bottom. Her hands shook and her face contorted into something only seen in a horror film, angry tears springing to her eyes.

Breaking her stuff was one thing, but ruining the only photo she had left of her dad? Unforgivable.

"We're sorry about what happened to your locker,"a black-haired senior giggled from a few feet away, her group of friends laughing with her beneath diamond-littered hands. She put a hand on her hips and tossed on a fake apologetic expression. "We swear we were aiming for the one next to it, but completely missed. Will you forgive us?"

Ten-Ten turned, tears streaming down her face. She clenched her fists and gave them a smile bordering on maniacal. It made one of the girls step back.

"Oh, I'll forgive you," she laughed faintly, then stepped forward. "I'll forgive you as soon as I'm done tearing out all of your perfectly straight hair!" she shouted before lunging forward and grabbing onto a handful of the female's raven locks, yanking down hard enough to lurch the girl forward and make her fall to her knees.

Before she could do anything else, Lee was in front of her, grabbing her hand and bending her wrist in a way that made her gasp and fall to the side, her fingers loosening. She hit the floor and grimaced, wondering what the hell he'd just done. It hadn't hurt, but it had sure made a strong shock go through her entire body.

"Ten-Ten-san, I understand that you are upset right now, but don't risk your enrollment here on someone like her," he said with much emotion, looking over at the teary-eyed senior who was rubbing at her scalp. "Usoko-san, why did you do this?"

The student glared up at him, her female friends at her side and giving him the same look.

"Why? Because she's friends with Uzumaki Naruto, that brat who dared to hurt Sasuke-kun! We're going to torture you both until you two decide to leave this school," she directed her last words to Ten-Ten before she turned on her heel and walked away, her groupies following behind her.

"So that's why neither of us were expelled..." Ten-Ten stood up slowly and wiped off her skirt. She then rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand, getting rid of any evidence of her weakness. "That bastard's going to bully us until we leave on our own," she gritted out.

Lee looked over at her and smiled brightly, as if not affected by anything.

"I have yet to meet Naruto-san in person, but I know a lot of students who look up to him for what he is doing," he nodded and bent down to start picking up the mess on the ground. "He has only been here for three days, but he has already made such a huge impression on everyone in this school. You know him best right now, so what do you think he will do once he finds out what Sasuke-san is doing?" he asked, truly curious.

Ten-Ten looked over at the ruined photo of her father and reached out to take it, folding it neatly and placing it in her vest pocket. She ignored everyone whispering around the two of them and suddenly realized that by protecting her, Lee was possibly going to be a target too. She bit her bottom lip and looked down at her cousin.

"Lee..."

"What do you thnk he will do?" he asked again, continuing to clean.

"He..." she began, then tried not to smile. "He'll punch that ass hole in the face again," she laughed. "He'll come back to school and act as cocky as usual, then do whatever it takes to pull an even better prank than the ones before. If he knows that the only way to leave the school is on his own, he'll take complete advantage of that..."

"Naruto-san is strong," Lee commented. "I do not know him personally, but I know that much. Now, I hope he can accept me as a friend like he has accepted you! To be in the presence of such beautiful, pure, youth... I would be so happy!"

Ten-Ten scowled and kicked him in the side.

"You know, you were cool just a minute ago. Now you're annoying again. Go away."

"T-Ten-Ten-san..." he pleaded.

She turned away from him and began walking down the hall.

"W-where are you going?" he called after her and stood, leaving the mess behind as he followed her down the hall.

"I'm going to your locker. Hurry and catch up so you can give me your phone," she answered without turning around. "I need to call Naruto and tell him about his little visit... and also tell him how there's another addition to our team."

Lee beamed and caught up with her.

"Thank you, Ten-Ten-san!," he cheered.

"Get off of me."

xxxxxxxxxxx

"Almost done," Naruto cheered quietly to himself, clapping his hands as he stared at the final scribble he needed to scrub away.

It had taken him almost seven hours to get everything cleaned and back in order. Whatever the trespassers had used to write in, it was extremely tough to get out of the cement; more so the metal overhang. He was pretty sure that blisters were going to form on his red fingers in no time and that added to the list of reasons as to why he wasn't looking forward to school the next day.

Having to deal with angry fangirls was going to be a drag, he knew it. He'd have to somehow get them to at least leave his mom and their apartment out of it and focus their bullying on him. He frowned, wondering what Sasuke was trying to get at by not even bothering to expel them.

"Huh, now that I think about it...Sasuke's the only one at Kokusai that seems to have any real power... but he's just a student, isn't he? Even his older brother doesn't seem like he has any power over anything. They all just have money..."

"That's because Itachi gave up his right as the next heir to the Uchiha family's business," a feminine voice came from behind him. "So Sasuke's the next in line."

Naruto turned to see the last person he'd expect to see standing there; Yamanaka Ino.

"I-Ino..." he quickly got up and wiped the dirt and soap suds from wherever he could reach, drawing a delightful laugh from the gorgeous female. "Wh-what're you doing here...? Um, how did you know where I lived?"

The platinum blonde had on a simple white dress that made her look almost like a china doll, her skin pale and her eyes a much icier shade of blue than Naruto's. She had her arms behind her back and she tilted her head to get a glimpse of the scribbles on the wall, drawing her eyes back when Naruto stepped in front of her line of sight.

"Well," she began softly, "You didn't come to school today, so you missed our lunch date," she smiled. "And I know your mother from the hospital, so I asked her for your address so I could come by to see you."

"Y-You know my mom...?'" Naruto gaped. He hoped to the great, merciful Kami that Ino hadn't said anything about what was going on at school to his mother. Of course, Ino hadn't been at school the previous day to even know what was really going on.

"Let's just say I'm at the hospital frequently," she smiled again, a stunning smile. "But I wanted to come by so that we could talk. At first, I just wanted to befriend you so that you didn't feel alone at this school... but now I truly want to speak with you about something."

The blond gulped, not liking her tone.

"Uh..."

Ino suddenly bowed deeply, her long blonde ponytail falling over her shoulder.

"Please forgive Sasuke for what he's done to you!" she almost pleaded. "He's never this horrible... but it's all because he's having a tough time right now..." she lifted her head and stared at him. "Naruto, don't pull anymore pranks on him or his friends..."

She didn't seem like how he pictured. From the letter she'd written him on his first day, she'd come off as someone very similar to himself. But the woman standing before him was very different from him. She was soft-spoken, well-behaved, and very apologetic.

"Why?" he asked, serious. "Why do you care so much? Are you two dating?"

Ino blushed, then laughed softly. Her voice rose in pitch and after a moment, the laughing became louder and she was gasping for air, her hand on her stomach. She was definitely a perplexing character.

"...What's so funny?" the blond felt like he'd been left out of something.

"N-No, I'm definitely not his girlfriend," she giggled. "My birth name is Yamanaka and that is what I go by. But ten years ago, my parents became unable to care for me and I was given up for adoption. The family that took me in was the Uchiha family."

"..."

"I'm an Uchiha, and I'm Itachi and Sasuke's younger sister," she beamed.

"No fuckin' way!" Naruto shouted, pointing at her in accusation.

"Yes... fuckin' way," she joked. "But... please don't pull any more pranks on him. That way you're left alone and he won't be stressed as much. You see... our mother passed away two years ago and out of the three of us, he's been having the most difficult time dealing with it. In a few days, it'll be the anniversary of her death and that's why his behavior's been so... unwelcoming lately."

Naruto raised two brows. He hadn't known that tidbit on the Uchiha.

"I'm here to tell you a little more about him, so you can understand him a little more... I don't want the both of you to hate each other. Everything's putting a toll on him, as I'm sure the same goes for you," she stared at him, frowning. "To fill you in on why Sasuke seems to be the only one with power in the school, it's because just before he entered Kokusai, Itachi resigned from position as the family heir. He didn't want that lifestyle and the torch was then passed onto Sasuke."

"But..." Naruto slowly started, "isn't almost everyone at Kokusai part of a family who owns huge businesses?"

"Over ninety percent, yes," Ino answered. "But the Uchiha Corporation is the biggest corporation in Japan, China, **and** Korea. My family also owns sub corporations, like Shuikko Electronics, Ninaho Supermarkets, and all of the Choudai and Suizou restaurants. There's an Uchiha member running each sub corporation, but Sasuke's next in line to be the owner of everything; to take our father's place as the owner of Uchiha Corporations.

"All of that...?" Naruto was dumbfounded. How could one single person handle all of those?

"He's the only student in school who will receive that position, since Itachi is a black sheep of sorts. He's the only heir to have ever given up a position of power, especially one so important."

"So Sasuke **is **the only student with real power..." Naruto mumbled.

"He's only seventeen, Naruto... can you understand the pressure? Our mother's death, the pressure of being so young and having to take on such a position so soon? Our father's going to retire soon and Sasuke will have to take over when that happens. Of course, Sasuke is a little... arrogant, spoiled, and cocky by nature but he would've never hurt another student or picked on you if circumstances were different..."

Naruto nodded slowly.

"As the heir to such a large company, he will be one of the richest and most powerful people of Asia and in this world, money talks. That's why everyone listens to everything he says, that's why he can bend any rule, that's why he has so much power... because once he becomes the head of the family, he can do whatever he wants to whomever he pleases. Physical harm and death are the only limitations, Naruto. Everyone sucks up to him now because if they do something wrong, they know they'll regret it in the future...ah..." she suddenly gripped her stomach and stumbled forward, an expression of pain crossing her pretty features.

Naruto stared at her, worried.

"Ino...?"

"Wh-where's your restroom...?" she asked, gripping her stomach harder.

"Go straight and it's on the left in the long hall... are you okay?"

Ino ignored him and ran through the open door, kicking her flip flops off at the entrance before rushing to the bathroom. Not even a second later, Naruto could hear her throwing up whatever was in her stomach, crying the next sound he heard. He slowly walked into apartment, to the bathroom.

Her complexion was a little off, he noted. She just didn't look too healthy when he saw her and he wondered if she was sick often. She had said that she was at the hospital a lot...

"Ino, what's wrong?" he bent down and touched her shoulder, but his eyes widened when she shifted and just fell back against him, clearly unconscious. "I-Ino...?" he shook her and her head lulled back against his neck. "Hey, wake up!" he yelled, then stood up and lifted her into his arms.

He rushed out of the apartment as fast as his legs could take him and he ran down the stairs two at a time. The hospital was only a block away and he was sure he could get her there faster than any ambulance could. So shoving through the crowds on the sidewalk, he held the girl to his chest and ran like the wind.

"Hold on, okay?" he said loudly to her, even though he was sure she couldn't hear.

It only took him a minute to get through the front doors of the large building and he was screaming for help before he even entered, completely out of breath. He handed Ino over to a doctor that rushed to him and he fell to his knees, trying to inhale as much air as possible.

He kept taking ragged breaths, lifting his head to watch Ino being taken away.

He pulled out his cellphone and flipped it open, noticing he'd missed about eight calls from an unknown number. Shaking his head, he ignored them and pulled up the number for Kokusai, dialing it and pressing the device to his ear. He swallowed thickly.

As much as he hated Sasuke, he needed to get a hold of him **now**.

_"This is-"_

"I need you to pass a message to Uchiha Sasuke. This is Uzumaki Naruto from homeroom class 2-B and I need you to tell him that his sister is in urgent care right now, please!"

_"Y-Yes, Uzumaki-kun. I believe he's still on campus, so I'l relay that message. One moment,"_ he was put on hold.

Naruto stood and looked up at the clock. It was twenty minutes after the school let out and he hoped that Sasuke **was** still there. He crossed his fingers and closed his eyes, listening to the sound of his rapid heartbeat echo in his head.

The woman picked up again:

_"I told Uchiha-kun and he's on his way now."_

Naruto sighed in relief.

"Thank you so much," he then hung up and shoved his phone into his pocket, stressed out. He'd talked to the girl for a total of ten minutes and then she'd thrown up in his bathroom and passed out. He rubbed at his face and inhaled deeply, still trying to catch his breath. It looked like more problems were going to be piled on top of him.

"Naruto, honey, I heard from a co-worker that you brought Ino-chan in..." Kushina approached him from the elevator she'd just exited. Her eyes were twinged with worry and pity and she reached out to pull her son in for a warm hug.

"She said she knew you, so I guess she was right..." Naruto said, hugging back. "She also said she's here a lot... why?"

Kushina pulled away and looked down at her baby boy with sad eyes.

"She's very, very sick... and right now, things aren't looking so good for her..."

The blond stared down at the floor.

He didn't know what to feel at the moment, but he knew one thing for sure.

There was no doubt in his mind that Sasuke would blame the whole incident on him.

**Long chapter, I say. More drama than anything, but new characters introduced!**


	4. That Ingenious Naruto

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Thank you for the lovely reviews, everyone! I really appreciate it and this chapter is dedicated to all of you! Keep on reviewin' and let's see what number we can get to! Remember, even an 'awesome' is better than nothing!**

Time was going by too slowly for Naruto's liking.

It seemed like hours since he'd rushed into the hospital with an unconscious Ino in his arms, but it'd only really been a little past thirty minutes. He could only wait until either Sasuke or Itachi, or both, walked in and blamed him for whatever the hell was wrong with her. He could imagine the weirdly intimidating older sibling looming over him with a fake smile and a knife in his hand, and he could definitely imagine Sasuke blowing up on him and smacking him with a lawsuit that would strip him of everything he owned... even his name.

From his spot in the large waiting room, he could see out into the lobby, but only the receptionist's desk, half of the elevator, and some fake potted trees were in his sight. He was bent forward in the uncomfortable seat, elbows on his knees and face cupped in his hands. Blue eyes watched nurses appear, then disappear, but no Uchiha siblings.

He sighed.

Straightening himself, he dug into the pocket of his jeans and fished out his cell phone, opening it up to see what time it was. He looked at the illuminated numbers and figured it was starting to get dark outside, since he couldn't see outside from where he was. A small envelope popping up caught his attention and he opened his text message, noticing the lack of contact name on top of the screen.

_This is Ten-Ten, but my phone broke so I'm using my cousin's. Why didn't you pick up earlier?_

Naruto raised a brow. Her phone broke? He messaged back.

_Something happened and I didn't have the time to answer. I thought you were a bill collector._

The sudden shrill scream of an infant startled him and he fumbled with his phone, sighing a breath of relief when he managed to keep it from hitting the ground. Another envelope popped up and he opened it.

_Idiot. I don't know if she stopped by or not, but Sasuke's baby sister was supposed to swing by. Did she?_

Naruto started texting back immediately, wondering how she knew.

_She did. How did you know? _

The answer was almost instant.

_Sasuke's older brother Itoshi or what not spoke to me at school and said she would. What happened?_

Naruto was about to reply, but heavy foot falls pulled him from his thoughts and he looked up to see stormy obsidian eyes. Before he knew it, a fist connected with his jaw and his head snapped to the side, his body lurching with it. His body seemed to act on its own in an instant and without even realizing it, he had the attacker on the floor with his arms twisted behind his back and his face shoved into the floor.

"Who the hell do you...wait...Sasuke?" he could tell by the raven hair and Kokusai uniform that it was the smallest Uchiha. His face was pushed against the cold tile and what Naruto assumed to be shouts of anger were muffled by the floor. He instantly jumped up and stepped back. "Aw, jeez, I'm sorry!" he apologized. "You did punch me in the face, but you didn't deserve that! I could've broken your nose... or worse, both of your arms!"

Sasuke lifted himself from the ground slowly and growled, wiping at his mouth with the back of his arm. He stood and brushed himself off, sending a poisonous glare in the blond's direction. He looked on the verge of man slaughter and as positive as Naruto was with his defense skills, he was sure he'd have an issue taking the pissed male down. He looked like a raging bull.

"What did you do to her?" Sasuke took a step further, then shot forward and tried to hit Naruto again, but the taller man grabbed his wrist and swung him to the side, pinning him against the wall. The raven winced.

"Look here, Uchiha," Naruto's tone changed dramatically. "I didn't expect you to prance in here and brand me a hero, but I did expect maybe a little bit of civil behavior from you."

Sasuke's glare only darkened and he seemed to spit venom when he spoke.

"You don't deserve that much," he growled.

Naruto almost laughed.

"You're such a prick. When your sister came to my apartment to beg me to forgive you for being an ass hole, I listened to her and considered calling a truce between us. But now I don't think I should," he shoved his palms against thin wrists and didn't even flinch at the other student's hiss of pain. "Because when she passed out in my bathroom, I ran as fast as I could to get her here so she could get help. Yet here you are telling me I don't deserve a civil conversation?" he pressed harder. "You should be on your knees, kissing my fuckin' feet."

In an easy movement, he had the raven on the floor.

Sasuke tried to push himself up, but the large hand gripping his hair stopped him.

"You...!"

Naruto spat.

"You think you're so high and mighty, but you're just a spoiled princess. I don't give a shit if you have money or power, neither if those two things can stop me from ruining that smug face of yours," he threatened.

"Uzumaki Naruto, what are you doing to that poor boy?.!"

Naruto's dark demeanor vanished in a second and he froze up, immediately letting go of the black hair he'd been gripping onto. Turning around, he gave his mother a horribly fake smile, his nerves getting to him. He laughed slowly, swallowing.

"Nothing, Mom..."

"Were you... were you about to hit him?.!" she shrieked, running over to help Sasuke off of his knees. She landed fierce hazel eyes on her son, a single glance promising him a long and terrible punishment if he didn't start explaining what was going on.

"No, I wasn't going to hit him..." he trailed off, looking to the side. "Just, you know..."

There was a resounding 'SLAP!' that could've probably been heard throughout the entire hospital. Naruto hunched over and gripped his head, yowling in pain from his much smaller mother slapping him on the back of it. Tears prickled on the sides of his eyes and he whimpered. He could take anything, but he could never ever keep his composure after being hit by his mom.

Sasuke would've laughed at the male's pain if he'd been in a better mood, but at the moment he wanted nothing more than to rip something or someone to shreds. But when Kushina turned in his direction and gave him a sympathetic look, his anger disappeared and was replaced with a painful sensation of nostalgia.

In that instant, she looked so much like his mother.

"Sweetheart, forgive me for my son's rude behavior," she put her hands on his shoulders and smiled softly. "I don't think he understands that you're probably very sad right now because of Ino's condition, but-"

"Mom, he came in here and acted like a complete dick-dattebayo!" he whined childishly.

Kushina smacked him on the arm really hard that time, frowning.

"It doesn't matter, dattebane!" she shouted, matching his childish tone. "His sister's very sick and he needs support, not someone threatening him! Now sit down right this instant. I'm going to take Sasuke-kun upstairs to see Ino-chan, alright?" she glared at him. "Don't do anything stupid."

Naruto didn't say anything, but he obeyed his mother and sat down in the seat he'd been in before, his face sullen as he rubbed his sore arm and head. So much for leaving Sasuke with a frightening image of him. Now he was sure all the raven would remember was his mom beating on him and treating him like a toddler.

Great.

xxxxxxxxx

Sasuke didn't want to look Ino in the face.

He kept his dark eyes on the floor as he listened to her soft breathing and the sound of the heart monitor, the hair on the back of his neck prickling when he heard her struggle to cough. That was when his eyes moved on their own and looked up at an extremely pale face. He then noticed how fast his heart was racing.

Ino was smiling softly, ice blue eyes tired and worn.

"I didn't expect to see you here," she whispered beneath her breathing mask.

The student scoffed at her and took a seat in the metal chair beside her bed.

"Hn," was all he said in reply, once again refusing to look at her.

Ino laughed faintly and reached a frail hand out to press her fingers against the warm skin of her brother's cheek. She couldn't help but smile at how stubborn he was, the motion only a slight upturn of pink lips. He was the same as always.

"What would you do if someone knew you were here?" she asked.

Sasuke ignored her.

"Who told you what happened? Was it Naruto?" she continued. "You know... he saved my life. If it weren't for him, I could've died. That's what Kushina-san told me."

Sasuke continued to remain quiet. Ino just pulled her hand away and crossed her arms over her lap, her gaze never faulting from the back of her brother's head. She didn't once let the smile slip from her face.

"You two shouldn't fight anymore," she said. "I know how our mother's death is weighing on your heart, Sasuke. I can see how much you hurt no matter what you say or what you do, but... I don't want you to add anymore stress to the load you already have. Please, listen to me..."

Sasuke didn't utter a word.

"Sasuke..." she called out to him, her lips twitching.

No answer. She gripped the white sheets underneath her slender fingers.

"Niisan-"

"Shut up!" Sasuke snapped, standing up so fast that his chair flew back and slammed into the wall. His teeth were clenched and hot tears spilled from his wide eyes, slipping down his flushed cheeks and dripping onto his trembling hands. He stiffened and looked his sister in the eyes, knowing he'd see what he feared the most; his mother's dying face.

Ino just stared at him, still trying to smile.

"Don't you think I would throw away all of my worries if I could?.!" he yelled. "Do you think I want to live this way? Worrying about how I'm going to successfully run our family company? Hating how my brother can have the life he wants because he dumped his problems on me? Trying my hardest to keep up my grades, keep up my social standing, keep up with everything around me? Worst of all, I have to be perfect for everyone... I have to be perfect, so I can't even let anyone know you're my sister?.!"

The pale blonde lifted her hand and traced a finger alongside a falling tear on her brother's face. She then touched his chin and whispered for him to come closer, leaning forward so she could get a good look at his face that was so full of anger, pain, and sadness.

Sasuke hesitently moved forward, shaken.

"It's been like that since the adoption," she spoke. "Why does it bother you now?"

"Because when I look at you, I see Okaasan!" she shouted defensively. "I see my dying mother smiling to me from her hospital bed, telling me everything will be okay! I believed what she said, so I didn't bother staying by her bedside because I thought she'd come home soon... She died alone and I didn't get to say good-bye," he looked at Ino, gritting his teeth. "Yet here you are, dying like she did and I'm not allowed to be by your side?.! Our father expects you to die alone?.! I want to listen, but at the same time, I don't! I don't want you to die like this... alone without someone. I couldn't stand to be next to you through this and make the same mistake as before...! But Otosan expects so much... I'm trying to be perfect for everyone, but I want to be imperfect for myself!"

"Then be imperfect."

Sasuke's red eyes snapped up to whoever had slipped into the room.

Naruto smiled a bit and lifted a hand in an awkward greeting.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier... as much of an ass hole as you are... I shouldn't have treated you like that... um..." he looked away from the piercing eyes, knowing he'd walked in on something personal. "I didn't mean to just walk in, but no one was answering when I knocked, so I got a little worried..."

Ino looked at him and smiled.

"What were you telling my brother?" she pressed.

Naruto's eyed widened a little.

"Ah... that he should be whatever he wants. If he wants to be imperfect..." he shifted his gaze to Sasuke. "If **you** want to be imperfect, then be imperfect. I can't possibly understand what you're going through. I'm a normal kid who lives in a normal apartment with normal hobbies and a normal goal in life. I don't know what it's like to lose a parent, I don't know what it's like to have such pressure on me, I just don't know..."

"Then go away," Sasuke snapped.

Naruto glared at him.

"I'd rather swallow rat poison than be buddy buddy with you, but I'm trying to give you some advice on your sister's behalf," he growled. "I'm doing this for her because unlike you, she's a nice person. Now, what I was trying to say was that if you want to be happy, you need to listen to your heart, not the voices around you. When it comes to what you want, you make all the choices, no one else."

Ino smiled softly, looking back at her brother.

"That's what I want for you, Sasuke... I want you to be who you want to be. We both know the family business is important, but-"

"I'm leaving," Sasuke interrupted her, shoving her hand from his face. He wiped at his wet face and breathed in deeply so he could gain back his composure, his face reverting back to its usual stoic mask. He walked around the bed, ignoring the female's pleas for him to come back. "I shouldn't have come. I should've let you deal with this on your own because it's none of my concern. I take back everything I told you," his voice broke, but his face remained passive. "I don't care if you die alone."

The look on Ino's face broke Naruto's heart.

"You... you heartless bastard!" he almost went to tackle the raven, but the girl's soft voice called beckoned him to stop.

"Naruto..." she held in salty tears and smiled, like she always did. "Let him go. It's supposed to be like this..." she trailed off and choked on a sob. "He wasn't supposed to see me, so I'm just happy he came...!"

Sasuke ignored her heartbroken voice and left the room.

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A little over one week had passed since the dramatic ordeal and it seemed nothing was going to improve Naruto's depressing mood. Ten-Ten had tried jokes from a best-reviewed joke book, the newly christened member of the team- Lee- had tried his hand at dancing, which had only resulted in laughter from his cousin, but not his target. It looked like nothing was going to switch his attitude around... until a cheerful blonde girl stepped into first period on Thursday morning with an unusual positive air to her.

"How are you doing?" she stepped in front of the gloomy student's desk.

Naruto, who'd been unpacking his bag, stared at her with his mouth wide open.

"I-I-Ino... what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the hospital?" his expression of shock turned to one of worry. He looked her up and down, and he had to admit that she looked a lot healthier than the day he'd left her at the hospital.

She laughed.

"You know, I'm not at the hospital all of the time. I can go weeks at a time without feeling sick. Right now, I'm feeling pretty good," she grinned, something he'd yet to see. She was starting to turn into the girl he'd pictured her to be the time he'd read her letter. "I heard you weren't doing so well, so I wanted to make sure you were alright."

Naruto looked confused.

"Who told you that...?"

"I think... that maybe what you said reached Sasuke, somehow. He came to visit me again the other day and apologized for hurting me when he'd left before..." she smiled even brighter and leaned forward to wrap her arms around Naruto's broad shoulders, her cheek pressing against his warm neck. "Thank you. Other than Itachi and me... no one's ever tried to help him see how he's ruining himself. I mean, he didn't change completely, but you shoved him an inch toward the right path."

"Wait..." Naruto pulled away and stared at her with eyes. "I convinced him to let everyone know you're his sister?" he whispered the last part, not sure if his conclusion would be accurate.

Ino shook her head, but didn't seem upset.

"No, but he promised frequent hospital visits and that he'd spend more time with me. He's trying and that makes me very happy," she beamed.

Naruto just sighed and crossed his arms.

"Uh huh. I'd prefer it if he would grow a pair and let everyone know about you. I am surprised, though, that he mentioned me not doing well."

Ino blinked, then giggled.

"Oh, he said that you weren't pulling any pranks or bothering him, so he assumed you were sick or something. He told me that relieved some of his stress, though."

"..."

"Naruto?"

The blond let a devious smile slip onto his face. Ino had told him his pranks before had caused more stress on the Uchiha, and that his lack of pranks had been a relief... He hated Sasuke with a passion that burned hotter than the fires of Hell, but he toyed with the idea of something bigger than the silly pranks he and Ten-Ten had implemented, something that would probably actually help the Uchiha heir; but in a way that would amuse him to no end.

"N-Naruto...?" Ino waved a hand in front of his face.

"Thank you, Ino. You helped me hatch a brilliant idea," he grinned, his blue eyes sparkling with something the girl felt oddly nervous about. "You won't have to worry about me pulling stupid pranks, anymore. At least, not bad ones."

"What...?"

xxxxxxxxx

"Ten-Ten, since you're friends with a lot of people in the art club, I'm going to need you to get these items for me," Naruto handed a small slip of paper to the anxious girl.

She'd been without anything fun to do for the past week and finally seeing her friend excited and chipper again, and with a new plan in mind had her bouncing on the balls of her feet, a lip between her teeth. She looked down at the paper like it was the greatest gift she'd ever received, a sighed of contentment reaching the ears of the two males students.

Naruto moved over to Lee, grinning from ear to ear. He handed him his own slip of paper.

"Lee, this is your first mission as part of our team. Are you ready to accept it?"

The bowl-haired student saluted.

"I am very excited to use my youthful energy on such a mission, Naruto-san!"

"Good, good."

Naruto looked up and down the hall, making sure no one would overhear. He then slipped on a maniacal smile on.

"You said you're also vice-president of the calligraphy club, right? When Ten-Ten brings the supplies to the empty club room in the C building, I want you to paint what's on that card onto the banner. Add flowers and sparkles if you want. Oh, and you can change up what I wrote if you want. As long as it gets the point across."

Lee looked down at the slip of paper and read over what was written there, his eyebrows drawing together. He showed it to Ten-Ten and the brunette read over it once before squawking like a parrot.

"What kind of prank are we pulling?" she looked almost horrified.

"Don't question the leader," Naruto clicked. "Just do as I ask. I expect it to be done before Sasuke's lunch shift since you two have a free period today. I'll be in class."

He smirked, turned on his heel, then left, leaving two dumbfounded students behind.

xxxxxxxxxx

Sasuke sighed.

It wasn't a sigh of annoyance, a sigh of exhaustion, nor was it a sigh of relief. It was a sigh of contenment, something he hadn't felt in a while. He still had as much on his plate as before, but with a certain blond-hared nuissance out of his hair, he felt like he could go through his school life focusing on his studies, on trying to deal with the upcoming anniversary of his mother's death, and on his plans for the future.

He walked through the congested main hall with Kiba by his side, as usual. The dark-skinned male was blabbering on about something to do with videogames, a topic which had never been of interest to the Uchiha. But he listened, mainly because he was in a fairly good mood, which was quite rare these days.

"I can't seem to figure out what combo move will kill him," Kiba droned on, looking enthralled in his own one-sided conversation. "I've been trying for days!"

Sasuke nodded, faking his acknowledgment. That one gesture pushed Kiba to continue on about his horrible luck in defeating some virtual enemy Sasuke didn't even know the name of. He didn't care, but like he'd figured before, he'd let him babble on because he was in a fairly good mood.

That was, until all of the students in the crowded hallway began pointing fingers upward, to the archway that connected the center of the stairs to the second floor library. Their once dull chatter turning to a loud thrum that made the raven scowl and scare off a few freshmen that were in front of him.

Lots of heads turned his way and whispers broke out like a plague.

Shoving through groups of students, he passed underneath the arch and turned to look up at whatever the fuss was about. His eyes widened a fraction.

A freakishly large white banner hung from blue ribbon that was tied around the railing posts of the archway. There was glitter and glued on hearts all over it, and across the length of the paper, obnoxious pink paint read:

**'SASUKE-SAN! DON'T THINK OF YOURSELF AS AN UGLY PERSON, THINK OF YOURSELF AS A BEAUTIFUL MONKEY! YOU'RE ONE STEP CLOSER TO REACHING YOUR FULL CAPACITY OF YOUTH!'**

Sasuke found his left eye twitching.

Kiba broke out laughing, which earned him a sharp elbow to the side.

From the opposite end of the hallway, Naruto, Ten-Ten, and Lee gave each other a thumbs up, all of them grinning fiendishly.

"From this day on, I declare this the first prank of the Kokusai **Restoration**!" Naruto smirked. "Our goal? To turn Uchiha Sasuke into a kind, fun-loving, generous guy!"

Ten-Ten and Lee both laughed.

"Yosh!"

**Lots more drama, but comedy too! I hope you all like the turn of events!**


End file.
